WATCH: Muslim Teen Helps Nab Jewish Woman’s Attacker on NYC Subway
Image by YouTube
Ahmed Khalifa is winning recognition from the community after helping chase down a homeless man who slapped an Orthodox Jewish woman in the face on December 27.
“It was a very hard slap, I almost could feel the slap. He was 6-foot-6, and a very big, big guy,” said the 17-year-old Muslim high school student, in describing the incident, in which homeless man Rayvon Jones hit the woman while she sat on the Q train, according to the New York Daily News.
Khalifa held the doors open when the train arrived at the next stop and shouted for the conductor, as the woman was injured, with a gash on her mouth and broken glasses. He then went in pursuit of Jones, receiving an assist from a local Orthodox man he ran into and the Shomrim, a local patrol run by the Hasidic community whom the two called.
“A lady told me to run after the guy,” he said. “It took me a while to catch up. He started sprinting.” Cops nabbed the perp while he tried to get on a bus, and one of the members of the Shomrim drove Khalifa home.
“Some people are like ‘she’s Jewish, why did you help her,’” he told the Daily News, reflecting on the event. “I’m like everyone is equal. I treat everyone the same way.”
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
